MTA Participated in Katrina Relief Efforts

Just after dawn in front of One Police Plaza in New York City on Saturday, September 3, a long line of Metropolitan Transportation Agency buses and support vehicles began to make their way toward New Orleans to aid in evacuation and relief efforts.

Each of the 70 buses that left that morning – and the 3 additional buses that left on Monday, September 5 – carried two drivers, so the 1,300 mile, 20-hour trip could be made non-stop. They also carried more than 170 New York Police as well as critically needed food, water, and other emergency supplies. The buses were from the fleets of the MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus, and ordinarily provide express bus service between New York City's outer boroughs and the central business districts in Lower and Midtown Manhattan.

Image of troops unloading supplies from an MTA Bus.

Military unit unloads supplies from MTA bus.

Along with the buses were 20 MTA and 27 NYPD support vehicles, including highway cars, tow, repair, supply, and communications vehicles; comprising a special Task Force that was announced by New York Governor George E. Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "After September 11, our fellow Americans provided New York with overwhelming offers of support and assistance in the wake of tragedy," said Governor Pataki. "We are proud to provide this additional assistance to people of the Gulf Coast. I applaud our drivers who volunteered for this demanding assignment; they will be away from home for more than a week and will be working day and night to assist those in need. The MTA and the State of New York are committed to assisting the victims of Hurricane Katrina in any way possible."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requested the over-the-road express coach buses on September 1 to help move evacuees from New Orleans. Gary Dellaverson, MTA Director of Labor Relations, and Thomas J. Savage, President of MTA Bus, and Larry Reuter, president of New York City Transit, developed a plan to send buses and support vehicles to the city. By Sunday, however, the evacuation needs had been met by buses from locations closer to New Orleans, and FEMA changed the mission of the MTA vehicles, asking them to provide logistical support to NYPD and U.S. Army personnel who were working to establish and maintain order in the flooded city.

"In the wake of the tragedy and dire circumstances faced by residents of Louisiana and Mississippi, the MTA is more than willing to lend a hand in any way we can," said Katherine N. Lapp, executive director.

A total of 185 MTA employees made the trip, and many more expressed a desire to help. "Because we were working on such a tight time frame, we were spreading the word at MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus depots on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, letting people know they would have to be ready Sunday morning," said Mr. Savage. "We had far more people offering to go than we needed."

Many of the MTA employees on the trip cited their experiences after the attack on the World Trade Center in explaining their willingness to give up a week or more of their lives to the relief effort. Drivers who had provided logistical support to rescue workers and others after 9/11 said that they had met many volunteers from all over the country during the days and weeks after the tragedy and they saw the Katrina relief efforts as a small way of paying back New York City's debt to the nation.

The 70 buses that left on Saturday morning were divided into caravans of 10 buses, each with its own support vehicles. The logistics of the trip were worked out in advance, and departures were staggered between 7 and 11 a.m. Two routes were used so that the caravans would not tap out fuel supplies at rest stops by having 70 buses attempting to fill up at the same locations.

At the departure, Mayor Bloomberg also recalled the assistance the city received after 9/11 and pointed out that "The task force now speeding toward New Orleans will join existing Fire Department of New York, Office of Emergency Management, and New York Police Department personnel in the south."

Image of MTA buses driving past broken houses.

MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus buses
arrive in New Orleans carrying military units
and members of the New York Police Department.

Knowing that communications between New Orleans and the rest of the country remained difficult because of the destruction of both land lines and cell towers in the region, each of the caravans was provided with a satellite telephone so they could maintain communications with each other, disaster officials, and MTA officials in New York.

The first stop for the caravans was Birmingham, Alabama, which was followed by deployment in New Orleans. Everywhere they stopped the MTA employees were struck by the warm receptions they received. In Birmingham, they were invited by the minister of a local Baptist church to attend a pancake breakfast the morning after their arrival. At the church they met a group of elderly evacuees and heard first-hand stories of the storm and subsequent flood. They quickly took up a collection to help the evacuees.

During their tour in New Orleans, bus operators worked 20-hour days and slept in their buses. They shared Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) with military personnel and showered in a nearby motel that had suffered significant storm damage but still had running water.

Because MTA officials did not know how long New Orleans would need help, they we developed contingency plans that would have brought the employees home and have a new group of operators, mechanics, and management personnel replace them. One plan called for MTA employees to fly home from the nearest airport while another envisioned driving a new group of employees to New Orleans on three or four buses and having the first group use those buses to return home. By mid-week, however, it was clear that enough order had returned to New Orleans to allow all of the buses to return to New York.

The trip home was somewhat more relaxed, with overnight stays in Tennessee and West Virginia, and the homecoming was especially poignant. At MTA Bus, all of the buses returned to the Eastchester Depot in the Bronx. At the depot, the volunteers were met by all members of the agency's senior management team and presented with congratulatory letters signed by MTA Board Chairman Peter S. Kalikow and MTA Executive Director Katherine N. Lapp, calling them "the finest examples of the MTA at its best." The larger contingent of 53 New York City Transit buses arrived at their home depots on a staggered basis and also received letters from the MTA chairman and executive director.

"It's extremely gratifying for all of us to work for an organization that is capable of providing this kind of emergency assistance," said NYC Transit President Larry Reuter. "We're proud not only of the volunteers who performed this important humanitarian service, but also of the dozens of others who were ready and willing to go to Louisiana and Mississippi to provide assistance."

As a special thank you, Chairman Kalikow and members of the MTA Board hosted a breakfast for the 234 MTA employees who participated in the relief effort. The breakfast was held on Friday, September 30 in Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall.